The Napier Project
by oyasumikoneko666
Summary: Joker's nowhere to be found. And a young psychiatrist wants to find him, with Professor Strange's help NO FLAMES! Don't own a thing haha. Think of 'The Batman's Gotham for this, set roughly 10 to 15 years after the last episode....OFFICIAL HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**AN: this is an experiment, as most of my fics are and it's a WIP too...with no ideas to continue it with lately. Please, I repeat, PLEASE! DO NOT FLAME, I don't need to know just how much you think I suck or you don't like this, there are all kinds of people out there and stuff for each of them too, so, if you don't like it, don't read it, and if you still read it without liking it, at least be respectful!**

**R & R**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing, I wish I owned Joker though XD**

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

_Chapter One: Professor Strange._

As much as she wanted to, she couldn't stop tip-tapping her mechanical pencil against her wooden-desk's top, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn't concentrate on her next patient's files. The files were displayed in front of her on her laptop's LCD but she couldn't pay attention to them, her eyes kept jumping from one point to another haphazardly inside her office, the office that had had two other heads of psychiatry that had gone insane and were now inmates, 'Whiners...', she thought, and that, without counting Dr. Harleen Quinzel...that wouldn't happen to her, oh no, it just COULDN'T because...she was already insane, she'd given into insanity a long time ago, it's just that, you learn how to conceal it.

The files read the name 'Professor Hugo Strange'. As much as she wanted, she couldn't help feel a bit irked and even intimidated by Professor Strange when he crossed her office's door, she shifted on her chair, trying not to seem nervous but it was obviously useless with Professor Strange.

'You don't have anything, to be nervous about...Dr. Lehmann...'

He sat in front of her and the guard asked her if she wanted to take the cuffs off of Professor Strange, she nodded and the guard left them alone with a very liberated and freely-moving Professor Strange; said Professor stood up and walked to the bookcases that were placed behind her. She tensed for a split-second before relaxing again. Strange just watched her from the corner of his eye before entertaining himself with the books.

'Aaaah, I remember when I used to spend the days here...trying to unravel the mysteries of the, uh, criminal mind....the insane, mind...'

She didn't say anything but only turned on her chair to watch Strange.

'You seem, not to like me Dr. Lehmann...I can't blame you, most people...don't find it particularly pleasant to be analyzed, like, insects on a diorama...'

Heidi shifted on her chair again, she seemed more confident now that she'd changed positions it seemed. She spoke for the first time, now noticing that 15 minutes of session had already gone by, how? She couldn't tell...

'Now there...Professor, you're completely wrong...because I do like you, and somehow...I feel I can trust you with something that I've been thinking lately...'

Strange didn't seem as surprised as he seemed curious, he walked back to his chair in front of the desk and sat there, giving his whole attention, and curiosity, to Dr. Lehmann.

'Fascinating...I wonder what is it that you like about me, I can't think of anything that is obviously attractive to women that I possess. And that takes me to think that you must have a deeper motif for you to actually like me, some kindred feeling perhaps...something you think we have in common...'

'Definitely what I'd expect from Professor Strange...', thought Heidi. She shifted again, but this time she seemed pleased in doing so analyzed Strange, she actually seemed to enjoy it, as if that last shift inflated her ego because she was behind a powerful desk.

'Aside from the interest in the criminal mind I doubt there's such a thing Professor, because as far as I remember, the mind you were most interested in was the Batman's, am I correct?'

Strange nodded, tapping his fingers together in thought. 'Yes, very true, Dr. Lehmann...but please, call me Hugo'.

'Hugo it is then...but, as I said, the mind you were most interested in was the Batman's, and unfortunately, that interest I don't share with you...my attention is focused in, another...mad mind...'

Heidi could've sworn she actually saw something sparkle ominously behind Hugo's glasses, but she couldn't be sure.

'I see...you seem to be as interested in this, mind, as I am in the Batman's...some emotional attachment maybe, or just a sick curiosity like mine, however...said mind must be quite far away from you, either physically or just psychologically for you to seem so deeply disturbed by its absence and therefore, your, uh, inability to...analyze it properly...'

Heidi was beginning to wonder if she actually was the therapist in there or if it was Professor Strange.

'Hugo...your necessity to analyze never ceases to amaze me, but unfortunately, our time is up...'

She pressed a button underneath her desk's top and the same guard that brought Strange handcuffed him and took him away again.

'Goodbye Dr. Lehmann...'


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I finally got some ideas and in fact, half of chapter three is already done too hahaha, ah yes...to answer the questions of a reviewer, and for the record too:**

**Dr. Heidi Lehmann is my OC, so basically it's the only part of the story (without counting the whole storyline) that I DO OWN.**

**and yes, this whole thing takes place withing the Warner Bros' 'The Batman' universe, HOWEVER!! The Joker I'll use...is more influenced by The Dark Knight's one...but whatever...**

**do enjoy! R&R! XD**

**-.-  
**

_Chapter Two: Underneath It All._

'Dr. Quinzel's notes...or at least the ones she ACTUALLY took and that don't have stupid drawings or hearts and stuff say that Joker might not have an actual personality...but he does have a very creative mind and a type of extreme amnesia, could be derived from deep damage to the neocortex...'

The door opened, a guard standing there with Professor Strange behind him, Heidi pressed the space bar of her laptop, pausing her recording and smiled to the guard.

'Um, Doc?'

Heidi closed her laptop, putting it to sleep.

'No problem I was just recording myself...my notes...I take it it's time for the weekly session, right?'

The guard pushed Strange inside, took the cuffs off and literally deposited him on the chair before going out again and setting himself ominously outside the door, it was good that the door was sound-proof, he wasn't the friendly type of person. Not THAT guard, not at all.

'Stupid shift changes...', she thought and sank deep into her chair. Professor Strange stared at her curiously, stood up and leaned closer to her, reclining a bit over the desk.

'Is something bothering you...Dr. Lehmann?'

She could actually see his eyes smiling behind his glasses and that made her smile herself, but that didn't stop her from feeling that her personal bubble was being disturbed. She moved slightly, swiftly and placed her hands on Strange's shoulders, pushing him back slowly, purposefully not looking at him.

'Now, Hugo...there IS something bothering me, but, shouldn't we be talking about YOU instead?'

Strange chuckled and sat back on the chair in front of her, behind the desk.

'Where he belongs...', thought Heidi...and then she felt a shiver go down her back, she couldn't lie to herself about anything at all, now could she?

'Dr. Lehmann...we haven't talked about either ME or YOU during our sessions lately...or at all in fact, we've just been sharing our, interest, in the criminal mind...'

Heidi stood from her chair, walked around the desk and sat on top of it, in front of Hugo...

'True...very true, and even if I haven't told you the mind I'm most interested in, you already know that it's very far away from me...and that I'm quite anxious to study it in person...I figure, you already know who it is that I'm talking about...'

Strange inhaled, exhaled...and smiled, he opened his mouth, then closed it again, rubbed his chin thoughtfully, crossed his legs it seemed like a ritual for him to start analyzing something and reach a transcendental conclusion, she'd seen it before.

'A criminal mind that not even I could understand perfectly, I presume...it's far away from you but still your attachment to it isn't diminished at all, in fact, I'd say...the distance, only increases it...that brings me, to the criminals that haven't shown any or very little activity in the past 5 to 10 years...'

Strange made a pause, cleared his throat and continued his monologue.

'I can only think of three of them...and the most enigmatic of them all is, the Joker...'

Heidi clapped. Stood off of the desk and walked back to her chair, sinking into it like a rag-doll, she sighed, because it couldn't be called otherwise, it sounded to Strange like a meaningful exhale...easy to tag it as a heavy sigh maybe.

'I find it quite meaningful, that you didn't mention an important part of the issue...'

Her eyes seemed suspicious, holding back something of key importance, Strange decided to dig deeper, he already had an idea of what she meant. She crossed her arms.

'Why did you do it?'

She considered it for a moment, but Strange just kept staring at her. She answered herself...

'I see...you wanted me to prove you right. That's it, isn't it?'

Strange grinned.

'You aren't as hollow as I thought you were Dr. Lehmann...so you HAVE met him...that, explains why, you are so attached to him...I can't label it as love, I'd rather say it's obsession, bordering on co-dependence, what you have developed for the Joker is, yes...and it might put you on an even more dangerous situation than the one it threw Dr. Quinzel into...but, what amazes me the most is, uh...that you don't seem disturbed by it at all...actually, you accept it willingly...'

Heidi laughed, a short, hack-ridden and high-pitched laughter...a clownish laughter.

'I...', she giggled a bit, and cleared her throat mid-giggle, 'I've only met him once...and that, was enough for me...', she laughs again, that high-pitched, pungent laughter again, 'to lose, whatever remaining sanity I still had left...that's why Professor...hahahaha', she covers her mouth but she can't stop giggling. She hold her sides and bends over a bit, she can't stop herself from laughing because everything just seems so hilarious all of a sudden, and Strange looks very amused.

'Aaaah....hahaha', she tries to breathe to calm herself but she's more like wheezing and panting, 'I'll...tell you, about that one time...'

-.-

**AN:**

**next up is a FLASHBACK!! woohoo!!  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: ok, so this is the longest chapter so far I believe, and...well...I don't have much to say only that if you don't like how I portrait the Joker...I DO NOT NEED TO KNOW, OK!? thank you _**

**do enjoy, R&R!**

**-.-  
**

_Chapter Three: Justice Is Balanced and Chaos is Fair_

Flashback 

-.- 7 Years Ago -.-

_The sound of the phone ringing almost gave her a heart attack, but in fact, she only fell from her bed, she crawled to the phone, which was perched up on the wall next to her bedroom's door, a weird place for a phone on a bedroom? Absolutely...she'd been receiving prank calls in the middle of the night for a week now and, she'd decided that, if this was another one of those, she'd call the police at last, so she just sat there for a bit, waiting to see if the caller would give up...but after ten rings, this particular call, was different, that much was obvious, so she reached up and answered._

_'Hello?'_

**_AN2: (As I write this, my own doorbell rings, it's 4:50 a.m.)_**

_A male, young adult voice on the other end of the line._

_'He says he wants to meet you'_

_A shiver runs down her back and she starts standing up, all traces of sleep wiped out of her mind, she leans on the wall and tries to focus her still waking-up body._

_'Who...who's this?'_

_'Meet him at this same hour, tomorrow, at the abandoned pharmaceutical compound near the docks'_

_'Wha!? Wait!!'_

_He hangs up, she walks back to bed with the phone on her hand and sits down, turns to look at her alarm clock, it's 4:37 a.m. She sighs, she doubts she can go back to sleep so she goes off to the kitchen to make herself some early breakfast._

_-.-_

_It was a cold and windy night, not like the night before it at all, the weather could change so quickly and apparently, adjust itself to the mood of the moment because she felt that damp curiosity again swirling, and clamping itself around her heart, mixed up with a bit of fear...no, it wasn't fear, it was nervousness. She approached the old pharmaceutical complex and thought that, in the movies, when looking for someone, if you follow the designated order, it never works, so she walked to the fifth building of the complex, it wasn't that run-down, it seemed as it hadn't been abandoned for long, maybe 10 or so years, and even before that, some 7 or 8 of the buildings had been part of a chemical plant, she'd read about it, and how it had been shut down due to embezzlement and some hazardous material mismanagement stuff. She entered through what seemed like a charge/discharge garage where a lot of catwalks were hanging from the ceiling but it was too dark to distinguish properly so maybe it was just her imagination when she saw something move swiftly on one of them...without making a sound._

_'Impossible...', she thought, but was it?_

_'Hello!?'_

_The only sound that came back to her was the echoing of her own voice and a distant thunder, a storm would be coming soon it seemed. She walked a bit further into the building and all she saw was darkness, she pulled out her cell-phone so she could get a bit of light, and saw lots of boxes, stacked together and covered with thick layers of damp dust, they also had humidity stains, actually they were near to rotting off completely, when she was so deeply concentrated in trying to read what the contents of the boxes seemed to be, she heard quick footsteps behind her and exiting the building, she didn't turn in time to see who it was but she followed the sound and it brought her to the building right across the narrow alley._

_She entered through the same charge/discharge layout that the previous building had, but this one, it was taller and narrower...one of the dock's street-lights actually hit it so the catwalks and everything inside, boxes, metal poles and other debris on the floor were partially visible. She stood in the middle of the huge garage, feeling the humidity clam her skin and dampen her clothes._

_'Hello!? I came here, come out!!'_

_She was getting cold and annoyed, this time she saw someone running through the catwalks and followed it to the outside of that building, she saw a man jumping to the rooftop of the next building, the 7th building, it was smaller so it was actually plausible for someone to jump from one rooftop to the other. She vaguely saw a tint of purple._

_When she entered the 7th building she heard someone laugh with a high-pitched, hack-ridden, clownish laughter. This building was like some warehouse of sorts because the layout was completely different, it was completely empty though, the huge doors slid close behind her, making an abrupt 'klang'._

_'Ah!'_

_She jumped, but she wasn't scared, she was annoyed, nearly two hours had been consumed by that stupid chase, she stood there, her anger completely overwhelming and effectively suppressing her nervousness. She crossed her arms._

_'Come on out Joker...I know you're here, I know you can hear me and this is getting very annoying...'_

_'Ooh haha, heheha...'_

_She turned around and looked up, there, perched on one of the catwalks, the Joker started walking out of the shadows, he reclined a bit on the catwalk's rail._

_'Ha....ha...hello hello, Dr. Lehmann...'_

_She approached to the catwalk where Joker was still so dangerously balancing himself._

_'He...why did you make me come here Joker? What do you want?'_

_He licked his lips and shifted his weight from one foot to the other._

_'No...I brought YOU here? Isn't it the other way around? I am not the, uh...stalker here...'_

_he moved his hand in circles pointing at her, 'So you see, it's not about what I want, it's about what YOU want...'_

_She lifted an eyebrow and shook her head a bit._

_'I'm not stalking you...I don't think I...WANT anything from you...'_

_He laughed a bit, not the clownish, high-pitched laugh, more like a hacky, nervous one._

_'But you see...you seemed so intent on meeting me, you actually came here at this unholy hour!! It's practically harassment, you know!?'_

_She rolled her eyes, laughed dryly._

_'It's not...it's just, professional interest...I'm a psychiatrist, I study...minds like yours...'_

_He coughed a bit, and pointed a finger at her._

_'You, can call it whatever you want...', he started climbing off the catwalk, he was more like dangerously hanging from it by then._

_'But I...'_

_She moved closer a bit. Definitely not what any other normal person would have done in her situation but...well, if you can define 'normality'...then you can't be that normal yourself._

_'What are you...?'_

_He jumped and landed near her, he walked to her slowly, opened his arms and grabbed her neck with his left hand in a swift movement, his face was so close she could see the cracks in his make-up. Her cell-phone fell to the ground and she vaguely heard it break. She'd have to buy a new one._

_'I...call it, invasion of privacy...'_

_He smiled, and she felt the sudden hit of electricity rattle her brain quickly before everything faded to black._

_-.-_

_As the darkness started to fade away she felt something poke her cheek repeatedly, she moved her head to the side a bit, trying to avoid it._

_'Mmm...wha...'_

_There was that poking feeling again, a bit sharper this time, like a fork._

_'Wha...? Where...? Ah!'_

_This time she felt it like the edge of a needle piercing her cheek slightly. She felt a thick, warm sensation trickling down her cheek. She tried to move her hand to her cheek and she couldn't, her hands were tied apparently, she tried with her feet and got the same result._

_'Rise and shine, D.r Lehmann...'_

_'That voice...', she thought, she felt a hand hold her face and something metallic slide next to her mouth's edge, slipping between her lips and she panicked slightly, she tried to open her eyes but her mind was still too clouded to actually let her do so._

_'No...stop...'_

_The hand's hold tightened and the knife's edge started to pull at her mouth's corner._

_'Wake UP...doctor...'_

_She tried to turn her face and as she couldn't she gathered all the self-control she could and started opening her eyes slowly._

_'Stop...it...'_

_But what brought her completely back to her senses was the pain as her lip's edge started to part and blood flowed down her chin._

_'Stop, it hurts!'_

_The knife was quickly pulled out and the Joker let go of her face, she was panting and her lip hurt, she touched it slightly with her tongue and she winced._

_'Ah-ah, there there...I wouldn't DARE to scar a face as beautiful as yours doc...'_

_'I'm not that sure...'_

_She looked down and saw she was tied to a wooden chair, and arm-chair to be precise. She didn't try to loosen the ropes because she knew it would be to no avail. She hadn't noticed before but, the Joker was sitting on a very similar chair, turned around, right in front of her, she smirked and laughed dryly a bit._

_'Ow...'_

_She looked at her hands and saw that she had purple gloves on, her eyes widened, she had black and purple striped stockings, black boots, skirt and corset, her shirt was the same but everything else was completely different, she blushed. The Joker grinned and started laughing, she lifted her head and stared at him._

_'Now, Dr. Lehmann...would YOU mind telling ME, what is it that you want? Hm?'_

_She rolled her eyes, which made her even dizzier so she closed them instead._

_'I told you, I don't think I want anything from you...'_

_Joker leaned back and stared at her, suspiciously._

_'You know...you're not like the average victim's supposed to be...and I just CAN'T believe that you just randomly decided to actually come here...'_

_She looked at him, but not in the eye, she distracted herself with his make-up, she was thinking of how some years back she would have thought how ridiculous the idea of a criminal dressed up like a clown was, she wasn't so sure anymore._

_'I...I do have a reason, that much is true but...it would seem too stupid for someone like you Joker...'_

_He pressed a hand to his chest, feigning being hurt._

_''Someone like me'? What exactly is that supposed to mean? Let me be the one to decide that...'_

_She lowered her head, trying to hide her face behind her hair but it was too short for that, she'd just cut it two days ago, she cursed that moment now._

_'I just wanted to meet you...to get to know you better you could say...'_

_The Joker was trying to look at her, he was leaning closer and when he heard that he started laughing._

_'Ha...hehaha...you can't tell me...', he paused to giggle again like the clown he was, in fact, he was positively bouncing on his chair._

_'That you...have a CRUSH on me!? Hahaha...hihihaha!!'_

_She faced him again and even if she was annoyed by the sudden stupidity the whole situation had acquired she couldn't help but smile when she spoke again, even if it didn't match her words at all._

_'I don't...'_

_The Joker was just caught up inside his little world because he was still bouncing, if a little bit less, but he was still QUITE amused._

_'Because you're just following me around like Harley did, you know?'_

_Now she was confused._

_'Following you around?? What are you...talking about!?'_

_He paused a bit, and shifted from clown to serious mode as fast as he'd started laughing before, he grabbed Heidi's face again and eyed her darkly. His knife was nowhere to be seen but he was pulling at her cheek and it strained the edge of her mouth that had been previously split, it re-opened the just clotting wound and blood emerged anew._

_'You think I wouldn't notice?? Someone sniffing around every corner I walked by...', one of his hands let go and instead pointed randomly, adding meaning to his words._

_'Meddling, sticking its nose everywhere that barely mentioned ME...now, I may be a clown...', his thumb pressed her mouth's split edge, 'but I'm not stupid...', he gave a last strong tug to the wound before letting her go. She didn't complain...in fact, she laughed. He was so right, she'd been too obvious over the last months and she'd just noticed...how very foolish of her._

_'Ha...hahahahaha...you've got a point there...'_

_'Glad you can actually smile when facing your death doctor!!'_

_She sighed._

_'But...I'm not like Harley, Joker...I can never be like her. I'm not a follower...'_

_He ran a hand through his hair._

_'Then why were you SO after me? And 'no apparent reason' doesn't sound one bit convincing...'_

_He waited for an answer, all he got was silence, she shook her head. He smiled, stood up and walked around her, she tried to follow as much as her neck would allow her but he just stood there, behind her._

_'You don't know? But you were the one that started AAALL of this...you were the one that wanted to study my mind you said...', he chuckled, 'Now there...Harley and you, are initially similar...', he walked away a bit, his voice growing louder, 'So, how come..', he walked back and put a foot on the edge of the chair he'd previously sitting on, 'How come you DON'T KNOW!?', he kicked the chair violently._

_'Well I just don't!! Not anymore at least...at first, it was just curiosity...sick curiosity...then it became a necessity, something deep within my own mind that seemed to need to know more about you...'_

_He leaned in on her, his hands clamping her arms and the chair's ones at the same time, he hissed._

_'How VERY touching...but, to me...you sound, like you're just obsessed, with something you can never reach...or, UNDERSTAND...', he grabbed her head and started moving it in circles, 'Playing with your phantasies inside you little head...', his hands slid off her head and pulled painfully at her hair. She stared at him._

_'And I AM the shrink here? By the way...why the change of clothes? Why dress me up like some sort of clown-doll? A fetish maybe? I told you, I can never be Harley...I can't replace her...', she emphasized her last words, 'She left you didn't she? A long time ago...you miss her...'_

_Joker pulled out some strands of her hair when he let go and grabbed the other chair, sitting on it again, right in front of her again._

_'I don't...'_

_She analyzed his face, his eyes, everything, he really didn't seem to be lying. But...clowns are supposed to entertain, right?_

_'But you do...you actually miss her, I can't believe it...'_

_'I don't...miss her', now he sounds annoyed and that makes her smile, 'How can I miss something I didn't even want from the beginning? Are you nuts!?'_

_He says that so matter-of-factly she just stares._

_'That's...an interesting question coming from you, you know?'_

_He points his knife at her, 'Well, getting all worked up over me...you just MUST NOT be on your right mind, yes? I think we do agree on that but...'_

_He starts cutting the ropes that tie her to the chair, and he scratches her a little but he doesn't care._

_'You WILL be her replacement, whether you want to or not because...'_

_She rubs her wrist with her other hand, he cuts the ones on her legs now._

_'Ever wondered where Harley is now?'_

_She wasn't actually paying attention to him until he mentioned that because it just seemed so out of place letting her go like that, but when he started walking away..._

_'What? What do you mean? Wasn't she in Arkham?'_

_'Oh no...so, ever wondered where she could be if she isn't with me, or at Arkham or ANYWHERE else in sight??'_

_She stood from the chair but froze where she stood._

_'No...way...'_

_'Good-bye doctor...'_

End Of Flashback 

She was holding her temples, rubbing them as if a huge headache was just starting when in fact it wasn't.

'I did consider following him out of the warehouse but, I knew I wouldn't find him after that...'


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: I'm not completely happy with this one but oh well...**

**do enjoy, R&R!**

**-.-  
**

_Chapter Four: All The Love In The World._

She was making a security copy in her laptop of all the files she'd taken out of the desktop computer, it was always the same for the head of psychiatry, it had Crane's files and it had Strange's files, and also Quinzel's files...in fact, it had all the information from and on each of Arkham's employees, and as she made the security copy in her own hard drive, Arkham's one was getting deleted. It felt...so cliché to her but still she couldn't stop herself from smiling, which was really ironic, clichés aren't supposed to make you smile, they're supposed to make you have an anti-climatic feeling, it's like suicide. It was 4:00 a.m., always had been her favourite hour and no one would raise a single complaint or question if the head of psychiatry wanted to take a look at her own office in the middle of the night...right? Because they really had no right to do so either way.

Strange and Crane were kept in some sort of twin cells, apart from the rest of the inmates, who sometimes complained of the 'special treatment' the Asylum gave to the previous heads of psychiatry, of course, they were all ignored. Crane and Strange's cells were bigger, more comfortable and had private bathrooms with showers connected to them, however, the security of those cells was lots of times more strict than the normal cells' one, the 'privileges' were only, apparent of course.

-.-

The only thing she hated about Crane and Strange's cells was that they were on the top floor, and Arkham's architecture didn't make it any easier, and it was even less pleasant when you're climbing up spiral stairs with two heavy bags, one with a laptop and the other one with lots of other papers, whole stacks of them in fact, that she just HAD to take away, they were necessary.

Of course, in the end she reached the top floor, there was a preliminary security post in there, there were four armed guards and a receptionist, if one wanted to get past that last checkpoint, one had to state a purpose and be authorized by the security system.

She reached the security desk, she left her two bags on the X-ray band to be examined.

'Good evening Dr. Lehmann...'

She offered the receptionist her most charming smile as she plastered her electronic signature and her whole palm's print.

'Shouldn't you say 'good morning', Jenny?'

Jenny laughed, setting the system to analyze Heidi's data. The system approved her right away of course. It would have suspicious otherwise, right?

'Yeah maybe...OK, just two more steps and you're free to get inside Dr. Lehmann, what is the purpose of your visit?'

Heidi thought about it a bit...she'd already planned it all, her 'purpose' included, it was just for show, it's always like that, all the clichés are always like that, aren't they? Jenny turned on the computer's microphone, all people who wanted to get past the last checkpoint had to state a purpose, and said purpose was recorded and archived. Heidi eyed the microphone, it was annoying, really annoying...but she knew it would be worth it, SO very worth it.

'I've been transferred to Metropolis and I've asked to take Professor Hugo Strange with me as an assistant and external patient, his complete rehabilitation has been certified and his transfer along with mine were approved...'

Jenny turned off the microphone and replayed the statement for verification.

'Alright, you agree with all that?'

Heidi rolled her eyes, feigning to be annoyed when in fact she really was, she just had to make it playful for Jenny to be fooled completely.

'Of course, of course...'

'Ok, I'll check with the system, only to confirm...it's routine, you do know that, right?'

'I do, I do...'

She turned around and leaned on the desk's edge, waiting for the useless confirmation that would obviously come.

'Ok, just walk through the metal detector and you can pass...here's the card to unlock Professor Strange's cell...'

Heidi turned again and smiled, taking the card from Jenny's hands.

'Thank you Jenny...'

The metal detector didn't make any sound, she'd been careful, she'd left each and every bit of metal she could have inside the bags, even keys or coins, absolutely EVERYTHING, she left her two bags were the guards had deposited them, she entered the long hall that took to the twin cells and one of the guards tried to stop her.

'Are you sure you want to go alone doctor?'

But she didn't actually stop, didn't even turn to look at him, her footsteps echoing within the corridor as she continued her way.

'Quite sure...and by the way, I'll pick my bags when we leave...'

The guard returned to his post. The receptionist didn't even think of looking through her bags, sometimes she was curious, and she was good at hacking systems, specially account passwords, they're normally very weak, but Dr. Lehmann seemed so relaxed that it was hard to suspect her of anything...despite the hour, and who she wanted to take with her.

-.-

The twin cells were very similar to Clayface's cell, they had crystal walls, but that was the one and only similarity. She stood there at the end of the corridor, leaning against the wall suddenly feeling how her knees trembled, she lowered her head and sighed. All her previous boldness suddenly falling apart and becoming completely useless to her.

'Can't believe it...'

And she really couldn't believe it, not even Joker had made her so nervous...she gripped the card tighter, raised her head, straightened her clothes and pressed her legs together in an attempt to stop her knees from turning into jelly. She walked slowly but firmly to the last crystal door that needed authentication, but behind that thick one the twin-cells were perfectly visible. A movement detector activated and the security system prompted her to identify herself.

Approach the lens for retinal scan

She leaned closer and the machine scanned her eye quickly.

Identity confirmed. Doctor Heidi Melissa Lehmann. Head of Psychiatry of Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Access allowed

The machine unlocked the door and it slid open, the mechanism had a timer set to 30 seconds for the person to cross the door before it slid close again and locked itself, so she hurried inside and stood right in front of the locking mechanisms of the twin cells. The crystal door slid close behind her. The lights inside the twin-cells were always on, unlike the ones of the other cells, they were on opposite sides of the floor, Crane's cell was to her left and Strange's cell was to her right, the security mechanisms however, were placed on a sort of 'column' between them, she walked around the column and approached Crane's cell first. She peered inside and saw that Dr. Crane was asleep, something to be expected at nearly 5:00 a.m. EVEN for Scarecrow, if he doesn't have to wake up early of course, and he didn't. She laughed to herself quietly. She turned around and without approaching she eyed Strange's cell quickly and saw that Strange wasn't asleep.

'Maybe he likes to wake up early...', she thought to herself, so she walked to his cell and pressed her ear against the crystal and heard the faint sound of the shower, who takes a shower so late and so early at the same time? She closed her eyes and remained pressed against the glass for some more seconds...

Before she caught herself and quickly moved away towards the column where the security mechanisms were, she slid the card inside and the mechanism's screen displayed the option of unlocking either Crane's or Strange's cell...or both.

She pressed the 'Both' option, an almost imperceptible sound, like a little 'chime' confirmed the unlocking process so she walked to Strange's cell, pushed a button and the crystal wall split and slid open. She willed her legs to walk inside, but they just wouldn't move, she couldn't believe she was getting nervous at this point of things. She forced herself inside once more and this it time it half-worked because she felt her knees were perfectly ready to bend at any given moment if she wasn't careful, so she walked as quickly and as silently as she could to the chair near the little writing table that was pressed against the wall before her knees gave way completely and she literally fell on the chair, she sighed.

She was mentally weighting her options, she could wait for Strange inside his cell and probably classify her actions as harassment, AGAIN...or she could wait outside, because, either way, it was obvious that the professor wasn't expecting her visit neither did he know her plans for him. In fact she doubted that anyone in Arkham did.

-.-

'Don't you think she's been in there too long already? Think she's alright?'

Jenny, the receptionist laughed and turned to look at the same guard that had tried to stop Heidi from going inside earlier that night.

'I think she's perfectly fine...'

The guard seemed confused.

'How do you know?'

Jenny turned around and continued working on her terminal.

'I just do...you know, rumour has it she has some sort of...um, crush...on the professor...ha ha, can you believe it?'

'No waaay....'

-.-

After analyzing the whole issue thoroughly and as quickly as she could, she decided she'd wait inside Strange's cell. She looked across the floor, to Crane's cell, apparently unlocking his cell didn't wake him up because he'd hardly moved at all and he was snoring lightly. She smiled...because her plan was falling apart, or at least a little bit of it completely was, but she just didn't seem to mind at all.


End file.
